After an upcoming update to Chrome OS, owners of a Chromebook who also run an Android device with the latest version of the OS (Lollipop), will be able to unlock their laptops without needing to punch in any passwords. Thanks to a feature called Smart Lock, you can set up your Android device as a wireless key to your Chromebook, meaning no more time wasted trying to log in to your device.

Noted as already being featured in the Dev channel of Chrome OS, it appears the feature is almost ready for the public, with a last bit of beta testing taking place with developers. To set up the service, all users need to do is enable Smart Lock on the Chromebook, sync the two devices (laptop and phone should only take seconds to connect), and then accept the terms for the service.

Given Smart Lock is already being beta tested with actual users, everyone else who owns a Chromebook should expect to see the feature rollout sometime soon. As noted, you will need a device running Android 5.0 Lollipop, so keep that in mind.

In the future, we can probably expect to see many more services/devices take advantage of this trusted device technology.

How would this work for a Chromebook with multiple users? Right now when I open mine up, there is an icon for myself (owner) and my girlfriend. Once you click an icon it asks for a password and you sign in. Curious if after clicking it would check for an unlocked device and go right in?

Not a huge concern right now as only my Nexus 7 has 5.0 right now, my Moto X and her S4 will hopefully in the future.

cwillen

just an assumption (haven’t messed with it much) but I’m assuming you pair the device with an account, not the machine. Settings can be different for each user on the chromebook. So if you pair a device with one account, it would only work for that account it was paired with.